My Guiding Starlight (Thranduil x OC)

Chapter 12: The Elvenqueen

"It is about my wife, Celemir..."

I blinked in surprise. Why was he suddenly mentioning about his wife to me? Why now? I tried to find any kind of emotion on his face to answer the questions that were swirling in my head, but he was wearing his mask and his eyes were closed.

"A-are you certain about this, Thranduil? I would never ask for you to talk about such a thing."

His lips curled up slightly as he finally opened his eyes, but he quickly averted his gaze. "That is why I am opening the topic. I am aware that you are way too kind to ask me such a question."

"If that is what you wish, to share your past, I am here to listen." I softly spoke, trying to look into his eyes, but he kept looking away.

He stayed silent for a few minutes, and I waited patiently while watching the wind play with his hair. When the sun touched his silk like platinum locks, it resembled a river, shining like it contained the most precious gems under the mountains.

"Celemir and I met when my father and I went to visit Lothlórien to see King Amdír. My father and King Amdír never got along too well. Imagine my surprise when my adar agreed to do an arranged marriage between one of the ladies and me."

I couldn't help but take a deep breath. This got his attention, and he finally turned to look at me. I noticed that he was trying to hide the sadness in his eyes. But he couldn't fool me.

"Of course, I protested. I did not want to marry someone that I did not even know, let alone love. But there was nothing I could do. This was the burden I had to carry as the crowned Prince, so I begrudgingly agreed."

"That is horrible!" I felt my hands hold his even tighter. If he were to be a human, a dwarf, or any other race, it could be justified as the burden of being a ruler. But he was an elf! Elves married only once because their spirits would become one as they would eventually meet with their loved ones under the trees of Valinor. To imagine that he married someone that he did not love!

He gave me a sad smile but did not say anything about my comment. Instead, he turned to look at the lake while still holding my hands.

"When we first met, she struck me as the most stunning elleth I had ever seen. She had hair that resembled melted gold and eyes that were the brightest emeralds I had ever witnessed." As he spoke so affectionately of Celemir, I experienced a sudden pang in my chest. His lips were starting to twitch into a gentle smile. "I soon learned that she had fallen for me when we visited Lothlórien for the first time. That was why my adar wanted us to marry. He had no doubt that I would fall for her as well."

"Did you..?" I hear my voice asking, afraid to hear the answer. He simply shook his head.

"No matter how long we were together, I was unable love her in the way that a lover would. She has always been a friend to me. This was before the War of the Last Alliance."

I silently calculated how much time had passed and tilted my head to the side. "2460 years ago..?" He simply gave a nod.

"When we found out we were headed to battle, adar stated he could wait no longer and hurried our already pushed back marriage and asked Celemir to bear my heir. At least our lineage would go on if we were to perish in combat."

Was it wrong to feel anger towards my friend's deceased father? How could he ask such a thing from Thranduil? It was a well known fact that a sundering during pregnancy or during the early years of parenthood, such as by war, would be very grievous to the couple and hurtful to the child.

"The war lasted seven years. I lost adar in the very first assault upon Mordor. He foolishly did not wait for Gil-Galad's signal and rushed forward. I warned him, but he didn't listen. If only he listened!"